Mindful Monday: An Evening Routine

Hello :) Yesterday when I usually try and think of something to write for my mindful monday posts I just couldn't think of anything! And then in the evening it occurred to me that since I wrote about morning routines last week - perhaps this week it would be nice to look at evening routines! Funnily enough, I realised this quite late and thought it would be a little hypocritical to sit and write this blogpost when really it would be better to turn off my laptop, have my own evening routine and write the post tomorrow...

Here we are. Before I delve into the evening routine - I've come across a few inspiring links about morning routines!

- Sarah Wilson writes about the elegance of a morning routine (here) and her daily health routine (here)
- The ladies from Health Talks (not sure if I've talked about this youtube series, but it's great!) talk about their morning routine and the benefits (here)

So evening routines. Last week I was working at different market stalls three days in a row. Waking up around 5am and working for about 8-10 hours each day. The thing with markets, as much as I enjoy working at them - is it is a full-on day of talking to customers non-stop. You rush to go to the loo and run to grab lunch and eat it when there aren't any customers. Basically, you are always switched on. You don't get a designated lunch break like most other jobs. It is an exhausting day, especially when you're selling something that is expected to be sold out (for example I was selling bread for two days).

Working those 3 long days last week had me thinking how important it is to have some sort of evening routine and how significant switching off is when you feel wired and frantic after work, having been switched on all day - if that makes sense.

Ok! So what do I want my evening routine to consist of ...

- literally switching off. Turning off my laptop and phone at least half an hour / an hour before bed. We are definitely glued to screens these days (myself included)
- a bit of stretching/yoga/breathing exercises
- perhaps lighting a candle / incense / dimming the room
- writing in my diary for the day

I realise it's one thing to say something - but doing it is a completely different story (watch this to inspire you) ! My challenge this week is to actually create a calming space so I can wind down.

Do you have / or wish you had an evening routine to help wind down? Join me for a week and see how you go! 

Hannah x

ps. feel free to let me know if you have any ideas of other posts or what you'd like to read about ...